The Avengers 2

If you’re a huge MCU fan or you have one in your life, and you’re looking for holiday gift ideas, then Marvel’s got you covered. The studio is releasing a huge, special edition Blu-ray set containing every film from Phase Two, from Iron Man 3 to Ant-Man. Even better: the set comes with a special mystery Blu-ray disc. Hmm. What could it be?

Since Avengers: Age of Ultron is already well on its way to making $1 billion worldwide, chances are strong that you’ve already seen Marvel’s latest adventure and won’t need a spoiler warning about the apparent death of a main character. Still, just in case, here’s a spoiler warning, because Marvel President Kevin Feige has officially confirmed that the character in question is no longer among the living and won’t be coming back to life.

Since every single person who clicked on this article has probably already seen Avengers: Age of Ultron, we probably shouldn’t have to warn you that we’re going to get into spoilers in about three seconds. But there are spoilers in this article.

Though Joss Whedon recently said not to expect many Avengers 2 easter eggs, there are still some things in Age of Ultron that eagle-eyed Marvel fans will notice if they're paying attention. We've compiled a list of all the easter eggs we noticed after our second screening of the film. Is there anything you noticed that we missed? Drop it in the comments below and we'll add it!

Just before filming began on Avengers: Age of Ultron, Scarlett Johansson found out she was pregnant. A movie like Avengers can't just be delayed, so Marvel used a variety of tricks to hide the pregnancy including shooting her from the waist up, using three stunt doubles and CGI-ing out her growing belly. This is just one of the facts packed into the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies, which follows the latest adventures of Earth's Mightiest Heroes!

The superheroes at the center of Avengers: Age of Ultron resonate so strongly with so many people because they’re so deeply entrenched in popular culture. Captain America, Iron Man and the Hulk were around for years before Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo were even born. These aren’t just characters – they’re icons. And while serious comic book nerds know how much Earth’s mightiest heroes have changed with the times, taking a look back at what the likes of Black Widow and Hawkeye and the Vision used to look like is both entertaining and (dare we say it?) educational.

If Marvel won’t listen to the rest of us, then maybe they’ll listen to a valuable person on their payroll. Recently, we learned that Marvel and Disney’s officially-licensed Avengers: Age of Ultron merchandise featured very, very little in the way of Black Widow (options include a shopping bag), and absolutely no Scarlet Witch merchandise at all. Apparently fans weren’t the only ones bothered by this, as Avengers star Mark Ruffalo also has something to say about it. Hey Marvel, you don’t want to make him angry. You won’t like him when he’s angry.

Just in time for the arrival of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Marvel is teaming up with Adidas for a line of new, superhero-inspired sneakers. Most prominently, the collaboration has yielded a pair of Quicksilver kicks to celebrate the introduction of the new character, although the color of Quicksilver’s sneakers makes them look like they might belong to Bruce Banner.

Marvel has long included Easter eggs in their films, referencing other superheroes and properties in the MCU throughout its current run with Disney. But there’s another Disney property that’s been acknowledged in the MCU: Star Wars. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige reveals that they’ve used the same Star Wars Easter egg in each and every one of their Phase Two films, although you probably didn’t notice it.

There’s a lot to like about Avengers: Age of Ultron, but the coolest thing about it is the way it reclaims the comic book part of the phrase “comic-book movie.” Rather than using these characters to do something “edgy” or “adult” or “important,” or sanding down their quirkier edges to appeal to as broad and mainstream an audience as possible, Age of Ultron doubles down on its source material’s geeky origins.

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